Expansion plans for Orkney based brewery

An award winning brewery in Orkney is to expand production and create new jobs amid growing demand for its independently brewed beers.

The Highland Brewing Co’s Swannay Brewery has seen sales of its varieties of craft beers in cask, bottle and keg soar in recent years.

With £123,300 financial support from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), developments at the brewery will involve rebranding of the product range and significant international marketing to build sales activity in new countries including North America, Japan and Scandinavia.

The family-run Highland Brewing Co was established in 2005 by Rob Hill who was joined by his son Lewis in 2011 and now employs a further four people.

The brewery has seen increasing demand for its award-winning range which includes Scapa Special, Dark Munro, Orkney IPA, Orkney Blast and Island Hopping and Duke IPA. Several Highland Brewing Co beers are national champions and have won the brewery a string of top international prizes worldwide.

The main development at the brewery will involve the installation of increased capacity enabling the company to produce more cask beers and will put more focus on keg products to complement sending bottled beers to the new export markets, both in the UK and around the world.